1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to piping or plumbing systems for the installation of gas meters for supplying gas to residences, office buildings and the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Natural gas is a well-known, clean, and relatively inexpensive fuel source. As such, gas distribution systems have been widely installed in various population centers throughout the industrialized world.
Housing shortages have led to a demand for relatively inexpensive housing developments and the corresponding supply of utilities and infrastructure. In the distribution of natural gas, service gas lines are typically branched out from main gas distribution pipelines laid along a utility route, for instance, under a roadway or the like, and connected to the individual residences or commercial buildings in a development. At the point of delivery, such systems typically incorporate a meter, a gas shutoff valve and regulator located above ground for connection to a residence inlet. The inlets can be stubbed outwardly from a side wall of the dwelling and terminating in a connection nipple projecting perpendicular to the face of such sidewall. It has become a common practice to lay underground service lines to the individual dwellings located, for instance, in a new housing project. When the time comes to activate the gas service, personnel are tasked with visiting the construction site to install gas meters for all houses in a single development or development section so as to provide for efficient and inexpensive installation. Oftentimes, such installations involve the connecting together of various threaded components, valves and connectors, sealing and pressure testing the various joints. These tedious and time consuming on-site semi-skilled tasks adds materially to the cost of making such installations.
The gas shut-off valve is typically located adjacent the stubbed inlets to the dwelling on the exterior of side. As such, the shut-off valve is exposed and can be actuated by unauthorized personnel, improperly instructed workers and home owners, and would-be vandals. In addition to tampering of the shut-off valve, the valve can be misaligned through inadvertent contact or other accident as is known to happen on construction sites. Accordingly, there is a need to provide a security device in place that can be easily and quickly manipulated to maintain a shut-off condition while allowing authorized personnel to remove the security device for flow of gas through the valve.
Additionally, many current models of meters incorporate upwardly opening inlet and outlet nipples spaced laterally apart in a vertical plane parallel to the surface of the wall of a dwelling having the stub inlet fitting projecting therefrom. The installer is thus faced with the task of selecting the necessary elbows, unions, pipes and plumbing fittings and threading them together so as to connect the meter riser through the meter to the inlet stub. This challenge oftentimes requires skilled plumbing at the installation site, sealing of the plumbed joints, pressure tests and reconfiguration to pass inspection. This adds considerably to the time and cost of installation.
In recognition of the needs of this type, it has been proposed to construct a prefabricated meter bar with an inverted U-shaped inlet pipe for connection between the meter riser and meter inlet nipple, and an L-shaped 90 degree outlet tube for connection with a laterally disposed residents inlet fitting. A device of this type is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,501,331 to Lyall and assigned to the Assignee of the present application. Such devices sometimes incorporate inline bypass valves designed for allowing access by an auxiliary gas supply, but such valves do not suffice as main gas shutoff valves. Such devices, while experiencing considerable commercial success, suffer the shortcoming that they require separate shutoff valves and thus necessitate a separate threaded connection with the consequent potential for leakage or misfit, as well as added installation time at the job site.
There thus further exists a need for an efficient meter bar device that can be installed at the construction site with a valve for controlling gas flow and that does not necessitate separate threaded elements beyond that required for connection to the meter riser, the meter inlet nipple, and the stub inlet.